


Cute Too

by chefke



Series: Cute Too [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, May the Force Be With You, One Shot, Porn With Plot, Reylo - Freeform, Shameless Smut, Smut, Sorry Not Sorry, may the fourth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 11:39:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6752479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chefke/pseuds/chefke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Happy May Fourth! </p><p>Rey and Kylo crash land on a planet and well shit happens.</p><p> </p><p>____________________________________________________________________________<br/>As a general rule I don't like to write warnings right before something happens. It takes away from the story. So triggers for con, non-con, slavery, and general rated M things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cute Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a general rule I don't like to write warnings right before something happens. It takes away from the story. So triggers for con, non-con, slavery, and general rated M things.

He ran a hand gently across her cheek. It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was never supposed to be this way.

 

**62 hours earlier.**

 

Rey was chopping through her meditations furiously. She couldn't believe she was sent on a meditation retreat. That was basically where she was sent. She huffed and dropped to the ground to collect herself. She was doing her first solo test in meditation over an abandoned planet. Master Skywalker had sat her down after a month of running, meditating, and practicing fighting forms and had said she needed to calm herself, center herself, and be one with the Force. She had been thoroughly annoyed. Wasnt she already centered and calm? Well obviously she wasn't now but...

She was lost in a web of thoughts when her ships comm started to blare. 

 

'Hello?' She heard a sharp intake of breathe. 'Hello? Is anyone there?'

 

'I offered to train you once. I won't beg Scavenger.' What little breathe was in her was gone. She scrambled to her feet and hit the pilot's chair hard.

 

She didn't bother answering as she turned her shields onto full capacity and engaged the weapons module. How the hell did he find her? She shot like a mad woman. She was panicking, looking for a star destroyer that was about to pop out of hyperspace. He was evading her shots easily. She flew closer so he wouldn't be able to fly as much. She fired again and clipped the tail of his fighter wing. She could hear him swearing over the comms. She smiled and crossed her arms belatedly wondering if she should put on her harness.

 

'Sure you don't need training, Solo?' She laughed. Her laugh stopped abruptly; with her mouth open as she hit her head on the dashboard in surprise. The bastard still had his artillery.

 

'Fu-' and everything went black.

 

 

'Come on Scavenger! You're just going to answer when you have the upper hand? Really? Not very Jedi-like of you, your worship!' He was laughing and stopped abruptly. Your worship. That was what his father used to call his mother. He must be loosing Cabin pressure too.... He nervously checked all the systems. Hyperdrive was gone as well as his landing gear but everything important was fine. He wasn't loosing cabin pressure. So then why did he feel like his head was being compressed?

 

'Really Scavenger? You're just going to ignore me?' He rolled his eyes and looked out of his view window. Plutt was wrong she was a terrible pilot. No wonder Uncle Luke hadn't come with. There was smoke bellowing from her starboard side and she was rapidly descending  spinning in circles. Maybe it was a new technique to protect her from incoming fire when her shields were down? Seriously, this is what they teach in the Resistance these days?

 

He sighed and started to follow her slowly from a safe distance. After about a minute he grew bored and accelerated. He craned his neck to see in her viewport window as he pulled along side her.

 

‘Really? The Resistance couldn’t teach you to at least fly in a str- REY!’ It was now abundantly clear why she was spinning. She was unconscious with her head on the console. He was leaning forward in his seat, in order to see her. They had broken atmosphere on the planet. They were coming in too fast. They were going to crash. He started to program his Nav computer for automated descent. He immediately lost sight of her as his craft slowed down.

 

‘Rey! You need to wake up! You’re descending too fast!’

 

He reached out with the force. It was how he had found her in the first place. He knew that they had a connection but it was dampened by the distance. Then she had been meditating and thinking of him. It had been strong enough that he heard her halfway across the galaxy. He smiled slightly, she had been wondering about his face. If his features were ‘cute.’ He could feel her blushing as he she thought about how his ‘facial alignments were cute’. He had been in a meeting being run by Hux with all of the Major Generals when he had bolted upright. The Generals had all been terrified into silence. He could feel her entire conversation in her head as if she was sitting in front of him. He marveled at it for a second or two and then roughly shoved his chair back and stormed out of the room. The hallways parted as he stormed down them to the hangar bay. He always had his personal ship on standby should Supreme Leader Snoke request his physical presence. He should have told Snoke or Hux where he was going but he had left the room and hadn’t stopped until he had pulled out of hyperspace and hailed her.

 

REY! He yelled. Nothing. Total silence. He groaned and bolted forward in his seat. He rolled his sleeves up and searched for her life form in the force. A bright shining light in an otherwise dark galaxy. Snoke would kill him for this. He closed his mind and reached out to the force. She had less than a minute before she crashed on the planet. She would go up in dust. He reached out to the force like he never had before and pulled. He felt her ship slow down. But not enough. He could see the Ocean coming up on them. He unbuckled himself which was a wildly stupid thing to do and opened the overhead hatch. Using one arm to steady himself he raised his other hand towards her and called on not just his connection to the force but her's as well. He cursed himself at the stupidity if Luke or his mother was here they were feel it immediately. Stars, if they were anywhere in the system they would feel it.

 

It was worth it though, he could feel her. All of her. Not just the lonely memories of isolation and fear on Jakku but he could feel her being. Her soul . As if she was under skin somehow and had blended herself into him. It was oddly more intimate than anywhere else he had ever touched a woman. It made his ears burn and his face blush furiously.

 

‘Come on Rey.’ He grunted his eyes closed using the force to navigate. He did not trust his eyes because of the smoke that bellowed from her ship. He carefully peeled back the top layer of her ship. He was careful to move any exposed wiring safely away from the Pilot’s seat. It whipped by his head as he kept their minds linked threading them together like a beautifully woven piece of art in the Force as he used the force to unstrap her from the seat harness. He called on all of her strength in the force and helped him glide her towards him. She floated in the air like an avenging angel and he held her as if she was one. Gently, he secured her in his arms and made an awkward and exhausted climb down the ladder. He was surprised how well they blended with the Force. He marveled this as he set her down on his bed. He carefully tucked her in and left to get bacta strips. He could hear the explosion of her ship hitting the water as he walked in his medbay.

 

He had half expected her to be up and fighting when he got back but she was asleep. Her face was crusted with blood and her arm had a long gash in it. He administered a sedative and cleaned her face, neck, shoulders, and arm. When he was done he closed her wounds applying liberal amounts of Bacta to her. He couldn’t help but stare at her. She was a beauty. They had just landed on the inland of a beach. He handcuffed her good arm to the bed and took her lightsaber and blaster from her belt. After finding two daggers in her boots he ended up just removing her entire belt in case she hid some weapons there. He needed to find food and asses damage.

 

He jogged around the considerably small island in a about five hours. He gather food, water, and wood. He paused on an outcropping of rocks to compose himself. He knew she was probably awake but he needed some space to clear his head. He had not meant to save her. He had not meant to deliberately damage his ship and almost his life by saving her. It had just happened. He took off sprinting towards the ship. As he ran, he thought fondly of her smatter of freckles across her nose. It made her look cute.

 

Oh, Holy Galaxies. Not that word again. He inhaled and exhaled heavily and stepped onto the ship. He could sense her anger. He dropped the supplies except some fruit and headed towards his room. He barely finished typing in the code to the keypad when the force sent him warnings. He ducked almost immediately as something heavy and cylinder flew past his head and crashed in the hallway. 

 

‘That’s rude. Is that how you treat all people that save you, or am I special?’ She made a strangling noise and began to fling more objects at him. He ducked them holding onto the fruit and waited till she ran out of things to throw.

 

‘Are you done? I brought food if you’re hungry.’ She glared at him.

 

‘Are we playing the silent contest? I grew up with C3PO as a babysitter. I’m used to not talking.’ She just continued to glare at him. ‘Fine. See if I care.’

 

He sat down and began munching on a strange yellow round fruit he had found. It was tasty. He projected just how tasty through the force. He didn’t think it was possible to look angrier than she did, but apparently it was. Petulant was what she was being. He did save her life.

 

‘I’m not being petulant.’ 

 

‘What?’

 

‘I am not being petulant. I didn’t need nor want you to save me.’ Her voice was rising till she was shouting. 

 

‘Rey, you would have died.’ He shouted back.

 

‘Well maybe I wanted to! Would that have been so terrible?!’ Her voice reached the highest pitch it could go and cracked. He was sitting up straight now. His eyes filled with alarm.

 

‘Rey! Why would you-‘

 

‘My parents are alive.’ It was a cold dead whisper.

 

‘What?’

 

‘My parents. They sold me on Jakku and never came back for me. They knew where I was and they promised to come back and they never did. I spent every day waiting and hoping.’ She began to gasp as tears spilled down her face. Kylo took one step and froze.

 

‘I’m sorry.’ He whispered. She ignored him and continued talking.

 

‘And it’s not like they just didn’t want kids. They had other kids and kept them. They just didn’t want me.’

 

‘I’m so sorry Rey. I-' 

 

‘You stopped calling me Scavenger. How did you know my name?’ Her eyes were wide and shiny her face wet. Kylo felt a ripple of sympathy tear through him.

 

‘I paid Unkar Plutt a visit. Disgusting thing.’ She muttered to herself in response. He raised the fruit. ‘Do you want?’

 

‘Please.’ He sliced the fruit in half and tossed both sides over. She grabbed it and viscously attacked it.

 

‘You could eat like a human.’

 

‘On Jakku if you ate slowly you didn’t eat.’ She shrugged.

 

‘Hmm…’ He thought for a moment while she devoured two more fruits that he tossed at her and then she drained a canteen.

 

’So,’ She interrupted, ‘Are you going to turn me over to the Sith? I won’t go quietly.’

 

‘Rey. I am not a Sith.’

 

'What?'

 

'I am a Knight of Ren. Not the same thing. Still the opposite of Jedi but not a Sith.'

 

‘Yes but-‘

 

‘We can’t go anywhere. The hyperdrive is shot.’ Rey laughed. 

 

‘There’s yet to be an machine I can’t fix.’ She yanked on the chain. He thought it over for a minute. He left the room and checked the comms. They were fully operational. Without thinking he yanked the receiver out and stuffed it in a compartment. He moved anything that could be used as a weapon and locked in the storage locker. He walked swiftly back to her.

_What was wrong with him?!_

 

 

* * *

 

He just walked out. Really? She couldn’t believe she talked about her family with Kylo Ren. Her enemy. She shook her head. She kept dreaming of them. It threw her off. Well he probably left her to die anyway. Great. At least he wouldn’t bring her to Snoke then. She started to hear clanging in the ship and then he walked back in.

 

‘Okay. Rules. You go where I go, You do what I do, and you listen to what I say. Got it?’ 

 

‘And why would I do that?’

 

‘Because your lightsaber is hidden with a thermal detonator on it. All it takes is one fallen branch, or leaf and your precious lightsaber will be little more than ash.’ 

 

‘Fine. I won’t be handed over Snoke. I won’t go down without a fight.' He raised an eyebrow at her.

 

'Let’s take it one step at a time. Fix the Hyperdrive.’

 

‘Okay.’ He uncuffed her and she mumbled thanks while she rubbed her wrist. She spent the rest of the day bossing him around and working on repairs. It would take at least four days. Hopefully someone would come looking for them. She was certain Master Skywalker knew where she was.

 

That night the temperature dropped and the two of them ended up huddled in the corner of the engine room.They weren’t quite touching but it was awkward all the same. The next day neither of them mentioned it. He took her with him on a jog, boy could he run fast, and then they gathered water and more fruit. As they climbed the ship she gave him a list of things to fix from the outside of the ship. She wanted time to search the ship alone. It took several minutes but she found the broken comm receiver. She reattached it to find that he was being hailed by pissed off General Hux. The weasly face man who was responsible for the death of an entire system.

 

She carefully yanked out the receiver and put it back in the container she found it in. Was he on the run? Why would he…. She marched outside intending to yell at him but her voice died in her throat. He was hanging upside down from the side of the ship shirtless welding two plates back together. She felt her throat get dry and her heart beat fast. She itched. She couldn’t stop ogling him. She needed to stop this now. Now.

Okay, maybe in one minute.

 

‘Rey?’ Her head snapped up. ‘Something wrong?’ 

 

‘Umm no. Everything is fine. Great. Perfect. I’m hungry.’ Her voice pitch was getting higher and higher until she was pretty sure she sounded like a dolphin.

 

‘Okay... You’re being weird.’ He hopped down and they ate dinner in silence. They played a round of Sabbac and went to sleep huddled together next to the engine room.

 

The next day she woke up to find him watching her sleep. She could feel him in the force. He had this odd feeling of wistfulness to him.

‘Do you generally watch people you have kidnapped twice sleep? It’s weird.’

He laughed. ‘No. Let’s get a move on. We have a lot of work to do.’ 

 

The day went by in a blur. The engine problems were not what she had anticipated but she was able to fix them all the same. They did have a lot of work to do and she may or may not have closed the vents so it was really hot inside and he may or may not have been forced to take off his shirt. She really hoped the engine worked right. She was far too distracted to be certain. That night they ate dinner in silence save for nods and occasional glances.

 

‘We did well today. It will probably be done tomorrow.’ She muttered.

 

‘We should discuss where we should plug our hyperspace coordinates.’

 

‘I would say a resistance base. Don’t you want to see your mom?’ She smiled sweetly.

 

‘Don’t I want to be executed on war crimes? Nope. But don’t you want to see the inside of a Destroyer? Again?’ This wasn’t going to go anywhere.

 

‘Sabacc? Play for coordinates?’ She asked.

 

‘Sure let's play Sabacc but no on the coordinates. Let’s raise the anty. Do something exciting.’

 

‘Why?

 

‘I’m bored.’

 

‘Hmm… okay.  Strip Sabbac?’ Woah. She had definitely not meant for that to come out of her mouth. But he smiled and yanked his cloak over his head.

 

‘I have more clothes to loose but sure.’ She laid down the cards awkwardly. She was really nervous. What if he thought she was ugly or too fat or too skinny? She froze. Wait, why did she care? He was a sith. It didn’t matter.

 

She won the first hand, then the second, by the time they were on thirteen he was in a t-shirt and pants. She lost the next round. She tossed off her shoes. Then he lost, and he yanked off his shirt. Then she lost, crap. She closed her eyes and yanked off her shirt. She looked down self consciously. She was skinny, too skinny. She had missed too many meals. She looked up to see Kylo right in front of her. He had his hands on either side of her face.

 

‘You aren’t too skinny. You’re beautiful Rey.’ She felt her heart swell and heard her cards drop.

 

‘This force bond is serious isn’t it?’ She asked breathlessly. His close proximity to her was making her head swim and her ears ring. She could feel the heat coming off of his skin and it was driving her insane. The force was wrapped around the two of them like a warm fuzzy blanket. It was... new.

 

‘It’s only going to get stronger. It’s important that we-‘ She cut him off and kissed his lips like she had seen entertainers do in the Niima outpost. It was wet and messy and sloppy but it was hers and she wanted it with this Sith, this Knights of Ren who kidnapped her twice. He pulled his face back.

 

‘No Rey.’ He whispered looking deep into her eyes. She felt her stomach plummet and her face redden. Why would he want to kiss a scavenger? A nobody from a planet in middle of nowhere. He was practically a prince. She tucked her face into her neck but he stopped her lifting her chin. He was smiling at her caressing her face.  ‘Like this, Rey.’

One hand slid down her back while the other hand gently combed through her hair as she was pulled into his lap. His lips ghosted across hers soft as a ghost’s carress. His lips reached down on hers again and she was surprised at the hungry noises she was making. His lips fused into hers and she let her hands wander across his bare chest. She felt him hesitate over her bra strap. She pulled away and smiled.

 

‘Teach me. Teach me everything.’ She whispered breathlessly. He grabbed her and kissed her again. This time it was not gentle or smooth. He kissed her like he was suffocating and she was all the oxygen left in the galaxy. She matched his kisses with equal determination and fever. Her hands trailed up his body mapping out the many scars and the toned ridges of his muscles. 

 

He leaned over her and gently slid her down onto the floor beneath him. Her hands somehow unbuckled his belt without her telling them to do so. He kicked off his pants and quickly slid down hers. Surprisingly she wasn’t embarrassed or shy. She needed. She wanted. She felt that same need and want echoed through the force by him. She pushed her needs and wants at him through the force was was surprised at the hungry look that his shone in his eyes. He wanted as bad as her. His hands massaged her breasts; she wasn’t even sure when he had taken off her bra. She moaned loudly as he started to suck on her hard nipples. She cried out when he bit on her nipple gently teasing her. They were bouncing in tandem and she gently placed her hand on him, there, causing him to still immediately. 

 

'Rey. Are you sure? I can’t go back from-'

 

‘We-Yes-Go.’ She panted and started to take him in her hand. Rubbing hard and long across him. She had never seen a real humanoid penis and it was wonderfully beautiful with veins decorating the sides like an intricate piece of finery. And suddenly she was scared. She was not used to beautiful things what if she broke it or damaged it?

 

‘You won’t Rey. It's stronger than it looks.’

 

‘Promise?’ She whispered.

 

‘Promise, just be gentle.’ She kept rubbing him up and down up and down. His hands had been ghosting up and down her stomach the whole time and he gently entered her with this fingers. She looked up in surprise dropping his penis. He was rubbing her in a circular motion. Her whole body began to burn. Her toes began to flex involuntarily. She had taken care of herself before but what was this, was this feeling of heat, of burning? He smiled as her body shivered. His hands slipped from her and she groaned. He slipped himself into her and she squinted at the intrusion. She felt gloriously full. He smirked and began to rock back and forth. She gasped as the feeling returned with a vengeance. 

 

Her body began to shake as the feeling festered and grew, traveling up her body. She moaned uncontrollably, gripping onto his back scratching and clawing at him begging for release. Her body bucked at him meeting his thrusts. She tried to stop the noises she was making but she was loosing control of her body.

 

‘Rey, Rey, Rey, baby don’t stop.’ He continued to ram himself into her until her body could take it no more and she cried out. It was too much. She felt as if she would explode. Her body started to buck spasmatically.

 

‘Kylo’ She screamed and came shuddering around him. She saw white and gold and was not able to piece together even a single thought. As she finished the last of her shudders he came too shouting her name and collapsing on top of her. She felt him empty himself in her and found herself shivering in response. A good shiver. His head was slick with sweat and there were cards stuck everywhere. Everywhere.

 

‘Mmmdfdf…’ He mumbled. She mumbled back. He kissed her forehead and rolled her over pulling her into his side. She laid her head between his shoulder and his chest. She fit perfectly there. He covered them with his heavy cloak and she fell asleep in his warm arms.

 

When she woke the next morning she was sore and alone. Painfully sore. She could smell food. He was walking over clad only in pants, thank the maker, holding a plate of food. She was grateful for the... ummm food. She didn’t think her first time would be so… good. She heard it was supposed to be terrible and painful. And-

 

There was a loud crash. She bolted upright ready to fight.

 

‘Kylo? Are you alright?’

 

‘That was your first time?’ All the color had drained from his face, even his lips were white. He looked like he was being force choked.

 

‘Yes, why?’ She felt thoroughly bewildered. Did it make a difference?

 

‘Fuck, Rey. I thought. Unkar Plutt suggested. I never-‘ She felt her blood go cold and her hatred for Unkar Plutt intensify.

 

‘Forget it then. We won’t talk about it. We’ll pretend it never happened. You and Unkar Plutt can go-‘

 

‘He’s dead.’ He said flatly.

 

‘What?!’

 

‘He called you a… a…’ He was shuffling his feet and looking at his fingers as if they were remarkably fascinating.

 

‘Whore?’ She demanded and Kylo nodded. ‘And you killed him? Why?”

 

‘I saw your memories. Remember? You’re kind and good and honorable. He was being an insufferable-‘

 

‘Just because someone is insufferable doesn’t give you the right to kill them.’

 

‘I won’t let people talk about you that way.’

 

‘Why?’ He was silent for a moment his ears turning a dark shade of brilliant red.

 

‘Cute.’ It was barely a whisper. 

 

‘What?’

 

‘I think you’re cute too.’ She stopped breathing. Her throat seized up. No. No. No. How had he heard that? He was halfway across the damn galaxy. There was no way-

 

‘Too?’ She managed to choke out.

 

‘How do you think I found you?’ She curled up and buried her face in her hands waiting for the ground to swallow her whole. She felt him sit down in front of her, carefully un-peeling each of her fingers and he looked up at her inquisitively. 

 

‘You didn’t wonder why I didn’t kill you at Starkiller Base?’

 

‘You thought I was… cute?’ She whispered. He drew her into his lap.

 

‘I still do.’ She rested her hand on his chest snuggling her body close to his.

 

'Rey, I didn't realize it was your first time. I should have... I would have...' He ran his fingers through his hair. 'I would have been more gentle. I would have talked you through... I...' She rested a finger on his lips.

 

'Sh....It was perfect Kylo. Perfect. I wouldn't change anything.' He pulled a card off of her thigh and waved it around like a flag.

 

'Nothing?' She nodded her head vehemently and he kissed her cheeks hugging her close. They intertwined their fingers and looked down.

 

‘What are we going to do?’ She whispered.

 

‘About What?’ he sighed.

 

‘You know what.’

 

‘Let’s just be happy while it lasts. We’ll worry about it tomorrow, your worship.’ She wriggled her eyebrow at him at the nickname. He just shrugged and kissed her forehead.

 

‘Okay.’  She snuggled into him, savoring every moment knowing that all to soon they were going to be facing each other on battlefields. He ran a hand gently across her cheek. It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was never supposed to be this way.

 

But he would fight like hell to make sure it stayed this way.

* * *

 

Luke Skywalker sat up and sighed. 

'Padawans' He muttered as if it was some form of profanity. If they bothered to listen to half the things he told either of them then they would know that their dance was literally being broadcasted out to anyone who was connected to the force. 

He sighed. Send one padawan to clear her head about the other padawan and they end up meeting up and having sex. Great. Next thing he needs is another Skywalker to add to the already messed up lineage. He sighed as he saw his comm light up.

Leia. Great. He was never going to hear the end of this.


	2. Cute Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-Notes: (no-spoilers)  
> Everyone deals with the fallout of Chapter 1 and Luke flashes back to when he took Ben into his care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the likes and the positive reviews! I wrote the original story because I was bored at a no-phone family dinner! Seriously you're all the best!-Chefke

 

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Leia was furious.

Leia was appalled.

Leia was disturbed for life.

Leia was currently breaking over four hundred and twenty-two laws as she jumped off of her speeder and raced down the landing bay. Crew members and Hangar employees scampered out of her way as she boarded her sleek Alderanian service ship. She knew that it wasn't really made by Alderanians but she always kept the style the same as of her people. She was slapping her coordinates in and skipping the regulated pre-flight checks. She jerked as she pulled out of her lane. The onboard droid complaining about her lack of a safety harness. The ship pulled out of the hangar in a jagged sidelopped fashion that would cause both her birth and adoptive father's to turn in their respective graves.

She grumbled to herself as her connection to the force slowly returned. She never really used it. It was like a very strong sixth sense. She knew it was there but she didn't utilize it unless she needed a warning about a missile headed towards her. Not like Luke, Luke lived and breathed the force. If he tried to block the force out he would be in physical and mental pain, she could block it out. She had been blocking it out for the last two hours. She had been blocking it out since she had been in middle of a Rebel Council Meeting and had been given a Force induced front row seat to her son and adopted daughter's sex life. She felt both of them having well... sex but she found it odd that they were having sex at the same time. Who else was on that god forsaken planet with Luke? Oh God. Luke. Luke would know how to shield his thoughts. Luke would know how to shield himself off from other Force Users. Why would he not teach Rey this? Wait. Why was he and Rey-

Her thought process combined with her infuriating situation had caused her to accidentally flip the entire conference table over and shattered every monitor against the wall behind her. As her associates ran around to wipe glass off and pick up degree she realized that she was forgetting Ben. He was also broadcasting through the force. Ben who was supposed to have been trained by Luke to NOT broadcast anything let alone his... private life. Her little Ben who liked toy speeders and warm milk before bed. Her little Ben who was being blamed for the death of the person he loved most in the world. Han. Oh god. She slammed her palms over her head as she realized that both padawans were still broadcasting.

'Oh, god.' She whispered hand to her mouth. She shook her head violently. She needed to block it out, all of it. She vaguely heard something else shatter behind her. The entire Council had rushed to her aide but she was already flinging herself out the door and racing down the hallway with only one thing on her mind.

Leia was going to kill her twin brother, last of her family and Jedi be damned, when she landed on Achoo. Then she would take away whatever license he acquired to allow him to teach Force Users to shield what they were broadcasting.

 

Luke wasn't furious.

Luke wasn't even appalled.

Luke was actually slightly amused.

Luke also might need a mediator for his slightly unhinged twin sister.

If he was being honest; it didn't take much to infuriate his sister these days or any day ever really. He sighed inwardly. Han. He sacrificed so much for his family. He tried so hard to make it work for Ben and for Leia but the two of them just couldn't make it last. What had started as a wild flirtation in, what they thought would be the last days of their lives ended in Ben's birth. Han surprised just about everyone when he announced he would stay and raise his son. He later told Luke he even surprised himself. The only one who wasn't surprised was Chewie. Chewie loved Ben as if he was his own son as did Luke.

Han changed his whole life for the little guy. He went straight, no more smuggling. No more daring adventures, just staying at home and being a dad. It worked for some time. Until he cracked, he needed something more, some adventure. He would leave with Chewie for a month out of the year, that was their compromise. There were so many compromises. Leia was a princess, she was diplomatic but used to getting her way so every compromise was a three day yelling fit. No matter how hard Han tried he always felt it was never good enough. Han used to come to the Academy with little Ben when he needed to cool off and Luke would talk over whatever fight they had had and convince him to go back and talk with Leia. Ben used to love these trips, he called them Daddy and Ben trips.

As Ben got older the trips became more frequent. It was Mara who noticed he had gotten taller and shorter. He was physically taller but he was always shrinking in on himself like he wanted to melt into the walls. Ben used to sit with Mara and play pazzak. Before Mara left she made Luke swear to keep a closer eye on Ben and Ben to always call her if he ever needed anything. Mara always got along with Han. The two were free spirits being caged in by society. He had seen Mara two years ago and she looked happy. That meant the world to Luke.

But she was right too; As Ben got older he got quieter and smaller, their constant bickering and fighting taking a toll on their impressionable pre-teen. Eventually Han stopped coming and Leia and him stopped speaking altogether. their house more closely resembling a grave yard than that of a charming family of three.

By the time Luke was able to get Mara to take over the Academy to check in on them Han and Leia were each packing their bags to go their separate ways. No matter what he tried or how much he spoke with each of them they wouldn't hear of it. They wouldn't talk to him or talk to each other. It broke his heart but he knew it was probably for the best. Only after the first day did he realize he had not seen Ben at all. He had thought that Ben would have been off someone where with R2 or Threepio but he stumbled across him in his room under his table tinkering with two miniature turbo celled batteries. It was a dangerous mistake. Ben had caused the second to short circuit and he burnt his left arm. He cried that it stung. He was only seven, it was a normal response.

He bandaged his hand gently as Ben looked at his Uncle his small wide eyes filled with fear.

_'Where will I go Uncle Luke?'_

_'What do you mean?'_

_'Everyone's leaving. Where will I go? Will I be alone?' The fear that crossed his nephews face caused tears to spring from his Uncle's eyes. He pulled his nephew into a hug._

_'No Ben. You will not be forgotten and you will never ever be alone. You're parents just need some time to cool off and some space then-'_

_'They aren't going to try and fix it this time. They're too different Uncle Luke. They aren't happy when they're together.'_

_Luke sat in silence for several minutes holding his young nephew in his lap. He looked up and saw several items on the desk floating. It was time. This was the worst possible time to take him to the Academy but he needed to go now. Anger would set in if he wasn't able to replace his childhood with something happy and peaceful. He chose his words carefully._

_'Ben, sometimes we love people too much. We love them so much that it blinds us. Have you heard that saying? Love blinds us?' Ben nodded and Luke continued. 'Sometimes we do the right thing for the wrong reason and we think that we love each other but really we just love the same thing too much to see anything else.' He had started good and then he kind of went up in a ball of smoke. He still winced thinking of Ben's face._

_'I'm-'_

_'No! Ben, it came out wrong. I'm trying to make you feel better and I'm failing abysmally. I think I owe you a flight trip. What do you think?' Ben bounced up their previous conversation forgotten. Ben was a terrible pilot. No one let him fly. Han didnt even let him in the cockpit of the Falcon. Chewie let him sit on his lap sometimes in the co-pilots seat when Han was off world. Very far off world._

_They had a blast flying, Ben enjoyed terrifying his Uncle and his Uncle enjoyed the laughter from his nephew. At the end of the day they got home to a tense dinner with Han and Leia. No one spoke a word. He received news of an emergency at the Academy and had to rush back. It was two weeks later that he finally went back. He had received word from R2 that Han had left the day after he did with Chewie and the Falcon. Leia sobbed in her room for three days and then left to do Senator business leaving Ben with Threepio and R2. It had been two weeks. R2 had called because Ben had not left his room since his mother had left and he was barely eating and it was worrying both droids. When he asked if they had tried to call Leia or Han R2 simply responded that Han was too far out in space and Leia asked to be left alone to work on a new piece of legislative that was 'groundbreaking' for poverty stricken Ghomorrians. He got into his ship leaving his entire Academy unguarded and flew straight to his nephew._

_Poor Ben just sat there in silence as his world fell apart. He hid under tables and end himself off in his room while the adults let their worlds fall apart. He thought no one saw his world falling apart. Luke did. Luke left with him that day. After he was sure Mara would care for him he departed for Coruscant. Leia hadn't even blinked or responded when he stormed into her Senatorial Chamber and dismissed everyone in there. He asked where Ben's belongings where, she shrugged and looked down at her data pad. He refused to ask Threepio._

_'He's your SON!' He shouted finally._

_'No,' She said calmly. 'He is a constant reminder of my failure, of Han's failure. Of the damn Skywalker family always ending in heart break. I can't be the mother he needs now Luke. I need to get better so I can be a better mom for him.'_

_'And where does that leave him in the interim?'_

_'With his stubborn father. He has one you know.'_

_'Leia.' Exhausting finally doused the rage he had been trying to contain. 'Han is on the other side of the galaxy. You left him home alone with the droids.' she blinked._

_'What? I w-'_

_'Except you did. I came because R2 was worried about him. I took him and R2 back to the Academy.' She bolted out of her chair._

_'You did what?! He's my son! You can't just take-'_

_'He needed a medic Leia. He wasn't eating or sleeping. He's been with me and Mara for three days in the Med bay. Mara wont leave his side. You know how much she loved him...' A wash of panic hit Leia. Luke had to catch her before she hit the ground._

_'My son. My baby. He really wouldn't eat?' He shook his head._

_'I need you to listen to me carefully Leia. He isn't a regular child. He is gifted, spectacularly gifted in the force. His emotions can't handle the ups and downs of you and Han.' He held up a hand as she began to protest. He looked her dead in the eyes so she could see his calm mask on his face fall. So she could see the many wrinkles on too young a face, the battlescars, and most of all the earth crippling world fear that had kept him awake for three days._

_'I'm scared Leia.' He whispered, it was barely audible. They both knew what else he was going to say. They didn't need to say it. But he was Luke and she was Leia so she did._

_'You think he's going to fall.' She whispered back. Tears were freely running down her face. 'I failed him. Luke I failed him.'_

_'No. We still have time. He is young. I want him to stay at the Academy. You can come visit or I'll even permit you to live on the grounds with us-'_

_'No.'_

_'No?'_

_'I'll speak to Han.' She said speak in the way the Senator Leia Organa Solo spoke. It booked no contradiction and no argument. She was the law and she would uphold it._

_'He will be with his Uncle. No distractions. Luke, we are too powerful of a family for one of us to fall again. Especially my son, I won't let him fall because of us. Because of Han and Me.' Her voice broke at the end of her speech. He could see her eyes staring at a lamp on her desk. She was trying not to cry. He walked around the desk and held his little sister in his arms as she finally submitted to her sobs. In that moment he would have taken on a thousand Emperor Palatines to stop his little sister's heart ache but there was nothing he could do so he held her and wept with her. War and Politics was hard but life was harder._

_'I'm so sorry Leia.'_

_He had not been privy to the holo message but Mara had been and she said she had seen funeral homes with more cheer. Han cried as well as Leia. Mara held her former sister in law and Chewie's arm rested on Han's. She hadn't even needed to convince him. They both agreed whatever Ben needed. It was the one thing they ever agreed on was Ben. Their little broken hearted and abandoned Ben._

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. Leia would be here in an hour, he should probably find the lovely couple before his sister. He needed to plan ahead not relive the past. He uncrossed his legs exiting his meditation pose. He rubbed his temples.

He debated if he should let them know Leia was en route or if he would make it to them first. He calculated their distance based on Rey's force signature that she  _still_  wasn't shielding. Leia would make it first. She would probably kill Ben, there were so many reasons at this point. Luke didn't have the time to go through even a quarter of them.

He sighed Rey would probably panic if he contacted her through the force. They had just covered shielding her force signature. They hadn't even touched conversing through the force. Besides it was hard to establish a new connection to someone. He pondered her reaction to the news and realized her natural instinct would tell her to run and while she needed to evade Leia, running would make her look suspicious to the Rebel Alliance. He started his trek towards them. After procrastinating for far too long he lightly reached out with the force threading himself into a weave that felt almost like a part of him. As he felt the connection snap strongly and secure he couldn't help but feel flushed. It was like getting the use of a limb that had been severed years prior. He took a deep breath of fresh air and dove into the connection.

' _Ben?'_ he whispered softly.

 _'What?! How-' Ben_  was startled and confused and angry and possibly groggy? They hadn't connected in years. How was it still possible-

Luke paused and waited for Ben to make the connection. Ben was smart he would figure it out quickly.

' _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. We weren't?...'_

_'You're mother was two planets over and heard it. She's en route. I would suggest moving and quickly. Your Mother's temper is renown in its glory...'_

_'Where? I... We-'_

_'Ben just start moving. I'll meet up with you.'_ He could sense his confusion and general panic that he was trying to hide.

_'I can't leave... Rey's sleeping'_

_'So move her...'_ He replied softly. He was smirking to himself as he swung over a fallen log. He was making good time. He might just beat Leia to them. Then again she was furious, maybe not...

 _'I don't want to wake her!'_ He sounded genuinely offended, like Luke had meant something by suggesting him to move her.

' _You're one of the most powerful force sensitives of this generation, Ben.'_

 _'What does that have to do with anything?!'_ Luke tried not to laugh, he really did.

_'Honestly, I don't know who is to blame for this. Me or Snoke.'_

_'What? Can you try and make sense!'_ His body was shaking from his silent laughter.

 _'Use the force to levitate her.'_ The connection went quiet. He could hear his nephew berating himself through the force.

_'It's alright Ben. You're stressed. Just move. I'm sending you my coordinates and you're mom's coordinates. We can meet on a connecting island.'_

_'The second one, the blue one. There's more fire cover'_ He was fully smiling now. How mad did he think his mom was? Better question was how mad she actually was.

_'Affirmative. I'll meet you there Ben.'_

_'It's Kylo.'_

_'Okay, Ben.'_ He could sense Ben hurrying with a very deep sleeping Rey. He must have tripped at least twice. He was really trying not to laugh. All that power and might he convinced himself he had, and all it took was one pretty girl to turn him into a bumbling teenager. Skywalkers. Ben tripped again cursing himself as Rey almost collided with a tree. Luke mused if he should have reminded Ben to ensure they were both fully clothed when they met. Chuckling he walked along the path to their meeting point.

* * *

**Post Notes:**

So with the young Ben character; I'm actually a teacher (It's what I do when I'm not writing.) It's so sad but you actually see how hard it is on children when their parents get divorced. The kids usually get violent or quiet and it breaks my heart. Some kids grow out of it and some kid's personalities change permanently and it's heartbreaking to see. I'm not saying people shouldn't get divorced I'm just saying people should be mindful and take their kids to a Therapist or speak to one about how to speak to kids about separation and divorce.


	3. Cute to the Third Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Luke dealing with Leia in their own ways. Leia being well Leia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,
> 
> Thank you for all the support and being super patient! My husband surprised me with tickets for a vacation for three weeks abroad and I have been having a blast! I'm still not back yet but it's pouring here and I'm stuck indoors! I took so many pictures and haven't had a second to sit and write! I will still be posting but just not as frequently.
> 
> I really do wish I could post chapters closer together it takes so long to edit after I write it! I was trying to look for a beta before I left on vacation but it's on hold now. Realistically, I don't think I am going to be able to post once a week with all the holidays and vacations for the next little bit. But thanks for being awesome and patient! (have i mentioned patient?)
> 
> Don't forget to like and comment!
> 
> -Chefke

 

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Kylo was furious and terrified. He couldn't believe his mother heard them. What if Snoke heard them? They were both in very dangerous waters now. He needed to plan. He needed to play his cards right. He also needed to not smash Rey into anything. He gently lifted her with the force, her small body floating in front of him, her hair tumbling out of her buns. He sprinted at a steady pace, his Rey in front of him. They raced for about a half an hour through foliage, over fallen trees, and past a severely angry hornets nest. The forest was wet and slippery but he moved forward. He was trained better than to be defeated by some forest. He felt Uncle Luke closing in, as well as his diminutively deranged mother.

Fuck! He froze, his own mother had heard him going down... He sputtered feeling his bloody ears burn. He would never be able to face her. Never. Forget about the fact that Rey was her prodigy. A living example that you could be force sensitive and not be a Jedi or a Sith. You could be regular. Like his mother was regular, he scoffed. He had seen her shatter an entire glass paneled window several times in fits of rage. There was nothing regular about her.

She was just very good at hiding things, but so was he. He raced straight into Luke's hut, shutting all thoughts of his mother out of his head. Rey was snoring softly. It was cute. He smiled softly at her and tucked some of her loose hair behind her ears. She had such small ears he mused. He walked over to Luke's bed and gently laid her down. He reached under the bed and pulled out a blanket and covered her with it. She hadn't stirred once. He went into the kitchen and put up tea. If Luke was drinking he wouldn't be able to harass him too much. He paused as the machines clicked and whirred. Why wasn't he scared of Luke? Luke and his fa-

He sighed and sat down beside Rey. He wasn't afraid of Luke because Luke always had his back. ' _No matter what, no matter where, and no matter who._ ' It was mantra they would chant together whenever he felt alone. Mara had made it up. He missed her sometimes. He knew it was his fault that Luke's marriage fell apart. Luke spent so much time with him Mara left for months at a time and he didn't notice. Ben Solo killer of a relationships. That was Ben Solo's legacy. It was one of the reasons he needed to leave so badly. He needed to be someone else, something else. Kylo Ren. But there were other things. Other terrifying things. The voi-

His mind stopped short at the sound of ship preparing to land. Leia. He needed to get out. He needed to hide. He looked down at Rey. She was fast asleep. He scanned the room quickly. There was nothing in here that would speak of his presence. He masked his force signature and looked to see the lonely brown door in the corner of the room. It looked like it hadn't been opened it years. Even the security key pad was dusty, not that security was needed in the head of the Jedi enclave's home. It had been Mara's workshop. Luke never disturbed her workshop, partially because it drove him crazy when he went in there. It was messy and dirty and there was often food all over the place. Little Ben had loved it. He used to swing his legs over the bench while he handed his aunt different tools.

'Ben.'

'It's Kylo.' He replied gruffly. He knew Luke was just trying to annoy him. It was working.

'I'm your uncle. I'm going to call you Ben, no matter what the rest of the galaxy calls you.' He could hear a ship lowering it's landing gear.

'She'll be here any minute.'

'So talk to her. Let's all talk. We can fix this as a family.' He tried to bite back his laugh. He really did.

'We never had a family Luke, just a lot of people shifting responsibility for a kid around.'

'Ben. You were loved. You ARE loved, by so many. Please. Let's talk. We just need to sit and get back to that love.'

'No. I won't.' He knew he sounded petulant but he didn't care.

'Won't or can't? There's a difference.'

'No, Luke. I can't and I won't. You want to talk. I'll talk but to you, not to her.'

With one last look at Rey, he punched the code into the pad. The door whooshed open and he quickly exited through the door. It closed behind him filling what was once light with darkness. He sat down in a meditative stance, waiting. She was coming.

.

.

.

Ben looked up at his Uncle, his eye's frozen in fear. It was always fear when it came to his mother. Luke reached a hand out but he disappeared into Mara's old room muttering as he went. He felt a twinge of pride, Mara loved him like a son and he her. Regardless, it was a smart choice it was a place Leia would never enter out of hatred for Mara. She disliked her when Luke and her got married but her disapproval quickly grew to hatred when their marriage started to fall apart. She loved too fiercely sometimes. Even though Mara had been the one to finally break their marriage; the faults were equally blame on the both of them.

'Luke! Luke! Come out here!' Leia. Shit. He wanted to go after Ben, he wanted to comfort him like he had so many times before.

'Ben...' He whispered. He sighed and sat down on the rug meditating while he listened to his sister's boots methodically beat down on the path to this door. He could still hear the engine of her ship running. No doubt she landed it on his garden.

Luke opened his eyes to see Leia stride into the hut as regal and poised as the day Luke met her. She was wearing dark grey general robes with her hair pinned up in a chignon. Even without Alderaan she was the embodiment of Alderaanian beauty and poise. She was a princess.

'You need to see this. I did some research on the way here. I thought I felt... I thought I felt Kylo Ren through the force but the more I think about it the more I think I just felt Rey and someone else... So I did some research.' She handed Luke a data pad. He calmly accepted it. He needed to keep her attention drawn on him and nothing else. He didn't want her to have an excuse to search the house, to go where she shouldn't.

'I thought our Rey might be seeing someone. The logical choice would be that Poe Dameron or Finn. Because of her value as an asset and our original suspicions regarding her ancestry I did research and DNA workups on both of them.' He clicked on the first report. His eyes froze on the bold red headline on the top of the page.

'He's force sensitive.' He said in disbelief. 'Finn is force sensitive. How, how was this missed?'

'I don't know. But he spends a lot of time with one of my best agents and your student. As for the familial on Finn the blood test showed relation to Lando. Maybe the force was gifting Lando with a son for what he did for us, who knows. What I do know is that the Empire wanted revenge on Lando for his betrayal during our stay there. They took his only son from him and killed his wife. We owe Lando our lives, Luke. We will have to protect his son.'

'Finn deserved a better life than this.' He said frowning at the report. Finn had been taken by the First Order as a punishment to Lando Calrissian. It was a cruel joke, he thought his wife and son were dead and all the while they had his son carrying out missions against his own family and people. Poor Lando, poor Finn. They wiped whatever childhood memories he had. Then they didn't even have the decency to give him a name, just a number.

'Sons tend to pay for their father's mistakes. We learned that the hard way.' She replied coldly. He wasn't sure if she was talking about him or Han and Ben. He wasn't going to ask.

'Check the main file.' He returned to the main screen and checked the main file. It was on Rey. Her blood came back. She was twenty-five percent match for twiilek DNA. Another twenty-five percent was a match to a DNA sample she said had obtained from Caleb Dume in what remained of a Jedi temple on a planet Lothal. She was a match. She was the granddaughter of Jedi Master Caleb Dume, the last padawan.

'We're sure she's a Dume then?' He ignored her pained look at the last statement.

'I ran a blood work up out of Mandalore. It's confirmed. You can tell her when she wakes up.' She nodded towards Rey sleeping on the couch.

'I still have no idea how you managed to obtain a blood sample from Caleb Dume.' He muttered.

'You just have to know where to look...' He raised an eyebrow at his sister. She sighed dramatically.

'I backtracked from their son's birth the date of his conception. There was only one place they could have been. I had the entire area canvassed. Luckily, it was deserted then and deserted now as well. I managed to obtain DNA samples for both Caleb Dume and the last princess of Ryloth, Hera Syndulla.'

'Wow. Remind me never to do anything sneaky around you.'

'You're a terrible liar Luke. I wouldn't even bother.' He almost laughed.

'I still don't like this. We know next to nothing about Finn. I want to find out more, more than what I was able to find.' He glared at her.

'What? I deal in intelligence. The only reason I'm still alive is because I'm cautious.' She shrugged.

'He's Lando's son.' He was truly exasperated now. He was pretty sure she liked him the first time they met. What changed?

'He's not Lando.' She retorted.

He sensed her temper flaring so he sat down on one of his chairs and sighed. The chair creaked and his sister looked around in obvious distaste. He made everything in his home with his hands. It was a calming technique when his days were at their worst. He was proud of his little home and his chairs, table, kitchenette, and his little sofa bed that Rey was currently sleeping on. Leia didn't share his enthusiasm.

'So, you trusted him before to rescue Rey and to protect the Galaxy from Starkiller Base but as soon as you find out he's force sensitive you don't trust him? Really Leia? Why bother interacting with me at all if you're going to label us and dispense with all of the hatred?'

'You're different.'

'Why?'

'You're my brother.'

'So?' She placed her head in her hands.

'You're all I have left.' She whispered between her fingers. It was a serious display of emotion from her. She was generally scared of showing her emotions, she was a general after all.

'You have a son, Leia.' He whispered gently. He placed a hand on her shoulder, sending comforting thoughts through the force.

'No.' She replied shortly shrugging his hand off and walking away her back facing him.

'Leia.' He was using his be reasonable voice.

'Tell me it's not true. Luke. I've been too afraid to read the report that she sub-' She went silent for a moment her head bowed. When she raised her head her eyes were cold and her face unreadable.

'Ben. My little Ben. Did he kill him? Did he kill Han?' Luke's sister looked as if her world was lost to her again. He looked down at his feet.

'I'm so sorry Leia.' He whispered. His throat was dry and his chest ached. This was a pain like nothing he had ever experienced before. But nothing he was feeling compared to what he saw on his twin sister's face. She collapsed to the floor faster than Luke could catch her and she sobbed. He lowered himself to the floor and held her while she screamed and she shook. He held her while she cursed her son and while she yelled until her voice was raw. When she could do no more than shake, she closed her eyes and laid her head on Luke's chest.

'I will never forgive him, Luke.'

'Hush Leia.'

'No Luke. Han and I... we weren't perfect. But I loved him. More than I ever loved anything. When I lost Alderaan-' She choked and new tears poured from her eyes. Luke felt alarmed. Leia was the strong one. Even at her hardest times... 'When I lost Alderaan I blamed myself. I was their princess. I was supposed to protect them. Instead I got my entire home world destroyed and didn't even have the decency to go with them. Han... Han knew what to say and when not to. He found me crying in the boiler room several days later. I made him swear he would never tell anyone. He said he hadn't been planning on it. Everyone needed to cry sometimes.'

Luke was silent. He didn't know what to say. He knew they had grown close on the ship but he didn't know the details. He knew that she always held him at arms length and it drove Han crazy. It was why he called her your worship. She hated it. He wanted to bother her as much as she bothered him. He only really ever loved one woman once he met her. He couldn't even see other women even after they divorced. She was all he ever wanted and he had felt like a failure that he hadn't made it work. Ben having to leave to the Jedi Temple was even worse for him. It was just him and Chewie. For a while it was just him because Chewie went to help re-populate Kashyyk. Han definitely didn't have an easy life.

'I'm so sorry little sister.' He whispered. He could feel her smile in his chest. She pulled back and looked up at him. She had a broken smile across her face.

'You never call me that.'

'I know.' She sat up and wiped her eyes. She dusted her robes and straightened her back looking out of the window of the hut towards her ship. She stared outside for a while while she regained her composure. She opened her comms and radioed the on board droid to start preflight checks. They walked together in silence towards the ship. Kylo was going to have a hard time coping

'I'm going to find him Luke. If I have to tear apart the Galaxy and rip whatever cold thing beats in his chest, I will.' Luke whirled in alarm.

'Leia. He's your son.'

'No, Luke. He's no son of mine. He's not welcome to the Organa or Solo name. Ben Solo died the day I left him to become a Jedi.'

'Leia-' He started.

'I'm not blaming you. Some people are rotten inside-'

'LEIA!' Luke yelled. He had had enough. 'He is your son. He may have made mistakes but this is grief talking. You need to leave that grief here on the island. You're a Commander and you need to make level headed decisions.' She shrugged.

'You're being rash. It's dangerous, Leia.' She scoffed.

'Rash. He killed my husband. He committed patricide. He's not my son and may the force help him if we cross paths.'

'Leia. I don't want you to leave like this. You're going to get yourself hurt or killed!'

'Then what? I have nothing left but my position and I can't leave it. Thanks to Kylo Ren I need to keep the Republic from falling apart.'

'And Snoke.'

'What?'

'You forgot about Supreme Leader Snoke. Leia please do not make this a familial crusade. The Skywalker's have had enough of those.'

'He made it a crusade when he left our home and became a traitor. When he killed his own father.' She dusted off her robes and backed away from Luke.

'I have spoken to the want Lando's son trained by you. He is on his way. I am leaving him in your care. Poe Dameron has insisted on flying him here and he volunteered for supply runs every three weeks. I am going to try and alternate it to a different pilot.' He started to hand her back the data pad when she raised a hand.

'Keep the data pad. Goodbye Luke, be careful.'

With that she turned around a stalked up the ramp and onto her ship. Never had Luke been more relieved for his sister to leave, she needed to cool off. He could literally feel Ben shrinking in the force, like he was a ball getting smaller and smaller. He was destined to fail this boy repeatedly he thought miserably. He'd give up his life for this boy, like Han. All he wanted was for him to be happy.

He cringed as he felt the walls go back up between them. The walls he was so happy to have finally pierced after so many years. People forget the power that their words yield. He was surprised Leia of all people forgot, it was one wrong word that had caused the destruction of her home world after all. She was a living breathing reminder for Luke to always test the waters before he jumped in.

Today, Leia dived off a diving board at the wrong end of a pool. Today, Leia lost her son that much he could sense through the force. Luke prayed his nephew was not lost to him as well.

.

.

.

He knew it was stupid but his mother's words stung. He needed her to believe he was evil for his plan to work. He needed everyone to believe he was evil. He just didn't think it would be that easy. He was sitting on his spot on the side board. He opened his eyes to see a tool in his hands, as if he was waiting for Mara to ask him to pass it to her.

'Ben' Luke called softly from the other side of the door.

'Can I come in Ben?' He would have been a great father. Why didn't he ever have children? Oh, right. Little annoying Ben Solo. A crash startled him and he looked around to see a room of tools scattered on the floor. He sighed. Great, now he was loosing control. He felt like a padawan all over again. The door slammed open and Luke came running in. He clasped his face in his hands and oddly, Kylo let him. He was searching his face, then his hands... He was checking for injuries.

'Are you okay? I heard a crash and I couldn't get the door open...'

'I'm fine.' He hopped off of table, the tool still clutched tightly in his hand. He couldn't let it go. He was losing a lot today. The stupid tool was another he thing he was going to loose and it just seemed too much.

'Ben, please.' He could hear the emotion coloring Uncle Luke's voice. He was too empathetic sometimes. It was a wonder he didn't cross over to the dark side. Everyone thought he would after he and Mara got divorced.  He turned his back to his Uncle, he didn't want any more judgement today. It had started out as a good day with him and Rey. How did it get so bad so quickly? He was Ben Solo that's how.

'Don't Luke. You heard her. I have no right to that name.'

'She doesn't mean it. She's consumed by grief. Let her grieve.' Luke's hand pressed gently on his shoulder for a moment and then withdrew to his side.

'If she wants a war than a war she will get, I swear this to you Uncle.' They were both silent for several moments.

'You will always be my little Ben. No matter what happens, no matter what roads we cross. You will always be a son to me and Mara, you know that right?'

'Really? Even after I ruined your marriage like I ruined dear old Mom and Dad's?' He spat. He was being spiteful for no reason. Luke didn't deserve this, but there was no one else to bear the brunt of his anger. Since he was Luke he would take it, he always did.

'What? You thought... Ben!' He looked up to see Luke... angry. That stopped him in his tracks. This was a first. He had seen Luke in every emotion but never... angry.

'Your parents couldn't workout their marriage because they were both too different and each too far apart from each other. They didn't try to make it work so they didn't. They should have put your first and they didn't. Your father lived his whole life regretting that.'

'You're full of-'

'He told me Ben.' He felt his throat go dry and his eyes sting. It was necessary. Everything was necessary. Except for this damn trip. He had no idea how he was going to get away with this stupidity. Snoke was going to kill him and then everything will have been for nothing. All the sacrifice.

'And Mara?' He whispered at Luke.

'Mara and I.' He ran his hands through his hair and then paused at her workshop chair. He ran a hand across it fondly and Kylo wondered idly if he should be sitting on the table or if needed to be thoroughly sanitized.

'I ignored Mara for too long. I didn't see the signs. I didn't hear her when she kept telling me she was upset or lonely. This was before I took you in. I was starting a new Jedi Order I was enamored. I forgot I had more than one duty. Then I took you in and I thought things got better. We fought less and she smiled more. We fought less because she found someone else. Someone who listened to her. By the time I wizened up and realized something was going on she was gone.' Kylo was silent. Perfect Uncle Luke and Auntie Mara were not perfect anymore.

'Wow.'

'Really Ben?'

'Sorry. Just wow. You were always perfect to me. But then there was a point when...'

'I wasn't.'

'Yeah, but the one thing I always thought you were perfect about was with Mara. I didn't realize...'

'You saved what could have been the ugliest divorce in all of the galaxies.' He thought for a moment.

'Oh, no. She found my father didn't she?'

'Han...'

'Luke, answer the question.'

'Yes and No. She said she realized something was wrong when she went undercover in the umm... bad slave triad with Han for several months. Your mother was insanely jealous and I didn't mind. It was Han. I didn't think anything was wrong. Looking back, I think she wanted me to be protective. I knew Han would never do anything and he would never betray my trust but that wasn't enough for her. She wanted to be wanted. She was, but it wasn't enough. She needed more than I could give. Then we couldn't have kids and I needed me for the school and...'

'It's okay Uncle Luke.' He stood up and collided with Luke who went in for a hug.

'You were a blessing in our lives Ben. A small miracle for two lonely public servants. So thank you, Ben.' He squeezed tight and then let go. He stepped back ushering him out of Mara's workshop.

'I've missed you, Ben. What do you say we wake up Rey?'


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long to get out but I made it super long to make up for it. You can thank the extended break to me getting Bronchitis for three months. Thankfully all better so I have time to write! Thank you for all the subscribers and commenters and likers! You guys are amazing and I appreciate all of you! This chapter is mostly about Poe and Finn! Ye be warned! 
> 
> Thanks for all the love and support!-Chefke
> 
>  
> 
> Looking for beta to just look over and catch things I miss. I generally just skim read and you can see it in my writing. Bad grammar drives me crazy but I really just miss it sometimes. Sorry! (It will also help me post faster...)

**Planet Achto, Luke's Hut**

They both stood over Rey, Luke’s hand on his shoulder. He could sense Luke's remorse and sorrow echoing through the force but he ignored it and turned his attention to Rey. She was tossing gently in her sleep her hair sticking to her face, he found it oddly endearing. Her nose was scrunched up and she was huddled into a small ball as if the smaller she made herself the less she would be noticed. She shivered and he tried to withhold his smile but it was hard. She literally found everything to be freezing even this sweltering hut. It was an emotion he felt from her constantly. She was always cold. He stepped forward and felt Luke’s hand drop. They were taking steps forward in their relationship but he knew he left steps open that would be eventually propel them backwards into nothingness. He tried not to dwell on it.

Luke stepped forward but Ben put up a hand to stop him, his other hand was moving towards Rey’s sleeping body. He crouched low and gently started shaking Rey awake.

_'Master Ren we are beginning our descent.' He nodded that he understood.  The secondary pilot scurried back to her station. No one wanted to be in his presence long these days. He still couldn't believe he was bested by not only a child but someone who had never used a saber before. He felt his anger crackle around him but he quenched it. He needed this ship to return to base with. Snoke had ordered him to research this scavenger, Rey. 'To know your enemy is to defeat your enemy,' he had said. He had managed to attain two droids and a deck officer from this mother. He smiled. He was pleased at besting her._

_He stood as the ship touched down. He needed to find a creature called Unkar Plutt. She had been a scavenger. A nobody. How had someone who rivaled him remained hidden for so long? He looked around the desert wasteland and was surprised to have it remind him so much of when he visited Tattoine. Slavers, prostitutes, smugglers, and scavengers that's what these planets had to boast. He stepped onto the gritty sand as storm troopers surrounded him. It was unnecessary but Hux insisted. He walked briskly knowing that they would have a hard time following with the sand getting stuck in their uniforms. He reminded himself to see which managed to keep up and to have them transferred to his Temple._

' _Master of_ _Ren, please enter my tent.'_ _The room was covered in different silks and heads of extinct animals. It smelled like a Bantha pit but no one seemed to mind. He used the force to close his smell filter. He paused in the center of there room. Along the walls of the tent were large brightly colored cushions with women wearing nothing but muzzles and chains that kept them to the cushions. They were either in middle of obscured men or women or on top of someone. There were little creatures that zoomed by with platters with actual living, moving food on the platters, he waved it away when it was offered to him. Unkar Plutt sat in the middle of the room in a chair that should have sat three drinking a blue swirling drink. He sat as if he thought he was king, his hands covered in jewels. This was not how he was described by Rey to the Rebellion he must change when he's in his private... tent. Plutt waved him over smiling from what he thought was ear to ear. He was a slimy _pompous greying thing, nauseating to look at and smell._ The only thing he was missing from Jabba the Hutt was his wealth and his Hutt nationality.  _ 

' _You come about the scavenger' He paused dramatically waving his hands around, '-and her BB8 Unit?' He nodded curtly._

_'Yes. I tried to buy the unit from her to give to your men but she refused to sell it. I was about to forcibly take him from her when your Storm Troopers came, Master of Ren.' He kept waving his arms in form of submission. He's probably hoping I don't kill everyone in this town out of spite for losing the droid. Two men laid a red silk carpet behind him and yellow chair on top of it, while two women move two smaller cushions to either side of the chair and began squirming all over the cushions. He remained standing looking over in distaste. He was about to comment when a thought hit him. He had not seen any women scavengers outside the tent. Was this was Rey 'scavenged' for?_

_'Please sit Master of the Ren.' His blood was chilled. He didn't know what he was feeling but he had only felt it once before and it was terrifying._

_'I will stand.' He paused picturing the stubborn scavenger here in the tent and then instantly regretting it. He felt nauseous and angry all over again. It must be the heat. '_ _The girl. I came for information about her.'_

_'Rey. She came to us when she was a child. We did not know her age and neither does she.'_

_'She doesn't know how old she is?'_

_'No. She does not know her familial name either. Just that her birth name is Rey.'_

_'Do you?'_

_'No, Master of Ren. I have searched hoping to sell her back to her family but I was never able to find them. Her parents had left her with me. They were supposed to return but they did not. One parent was a Twiilek.' A Twiilek interesting._

_'What was done with her as a child in your care?' Care? He had not meant to say care. What was wrong with him? She was his enemy, so why was his anger placed at Plutt instead of her?_

_'She was made to work like the other children until she was old enough to scavenge on her own. Most of the children don't come back from their first night scavenging. It's competitive and dangerous. It was the first time that all of the scavenger kids all came back and with things.'_

_'She brought them back?'_

_'Yes. I gave them rations and sent them out the next day. It was a pattern for a couple of weeks. They would come back all together and get equal portions. I waited and found out where they were going to dig and had a servant hide something of immense value where they were going to hide. I reminded them as they left that the more value it was worth the more rations they would receive for their parts. The next day they returned with only four of the twenty children. Rey returned bloodied and broken with nothing. I gave her no rations but she learned her lesson. They had all lived together in tent. After that night she moved further out and kept to herself.'_

_'So, you broke her?'_

_'Like all the other children.'_

_'And she was restricted to just scavenging?'_

_'Yes and no. When she brought back enough parts she would get portions. I always gave her less than she deserved because I wanted her to be **mine**.' He snarled at the word mine and he could sense _ _rejection there. He reached out with the force and could see him pinning Rey down her kicking and clawing but never screaming. He withdrew from the memory before he saw anymore. His blood was boiling. She was a Jedi. A god damn Jedi, not a common whore._

 _'Just another whore, who happened to be not so bad at scavenging.' He chuckled. His chuckles grew into a full blown laugh._  

_He laughed and laughed and suddenly Kylo could not contain his rage at this piece of filth. His hand lifted the thing out of it's chair as Plutt screamed wildly and choked. He was dimly aware of the chains breaking behind him and people running as he force choked the Thing into a deathly silence. Whatever was left of the outpost scattered as he stood and made his way furiously back to the ship.  Her name called out to him with every step he took, his resolve for her death breaking down into nothingness._

_Rey. A family who didn't want her, like him._

_Rey. She was abandoned like him._

_Rey. She was a fighter like him._

_Rey. She was dealt a shit hand very young and she didn't let it break her. She rose, like him. He sighed as he approached the ship. This ship made his infatuation with her worse._ _He sighed and looked back noting that one trooper had managed to keep up with him while a second worked at keeping everyone in line and walking faster. So one for reconditioning and one for the Temple. He closed his eyes as they took off. This was a lot to think about. He was expecting to find a weakness or a hidden talent he could exploit. All he found was pity._

 

'Rey, Rey wake up.' He whispered as gently as he could. He didn't want to startle her. He could sense Luke taking several steps backwards to give them privacy. Rey's eyes opened, alert and wide. It took several seconds of wild eyes searching the whole room but she finally settled on the eyes in front of her and stayed there. Her eyes softened and her hands reached out towards him.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The moment Rey was up her face split into a smile the likes of which Luke had never seen on her. Gross. She threaded her fingers in Ben’s hair and pulled his face down to kiss him. Really? He was right there. After several uncomfortable moments he coughed twice and Rey looked up and finally noticed him. She screeched, cursed, and then tried to sit up. That resulted in her tumbling out of the bed and onto the floor in a tangled mess of blankets and swear words.

He really was much too old for this kind of drama.

'Oh Galaxies. Oh Galaxies. Master Skywalker. Ummm... It's not what it looks like. It's-' He raised his eyebrow at her a stern quizzical look across his face. He was trying not enjoy her embarrassed and juvenile reaction. Young people...

'Okay... it's exactly how it looks like.’ She said tossing her arms up in the air. ‘I'm being tossed out aren't I? I’m not going to be allowed to be a Jedi anymore! Oh, galaxies! What did I do?' Luke watched as her eyes widened and stared at Ben. He was laughing with actual tears running down his face. Luke felt his heart warm. Whatever Ben had gotten into, Rey might be the only one to make sure he gets out of it alive. He had never felt so protective over the girl even after he found out she was more or less enslaved on Jakku. His thoughts were halted abruptly when she picked up the pillow on her bed and threw it at him. It narrowly missed his head. He needed to work on her aim.

'Seriously? I'm getting kicked out of Jedi training and you think it's funny? Now I'm gonna have to be a Sith or some freaking Knights of Ren and I'm probably gonna die by getting stabbed in the back by some- STOP LAUGHING!’

Luke couldn’t help it. He began to chuckle too. Her gaze shifted to him and her jaw dropped and stayed there. When his chuckling subsides and most of Ben’s he spoke.

‘Rey, you cannot stop being force sensitive or Jedi as you say. It’s a part of you.’ She looked at him blankly.

‘Like you can’t lose an arm because it’s part of you.’ Luke coughed and looked pointedly at his arm.

‘Well… that was a bad example.’ Rey sat up tall.

‘So… I’m not being kicked out?’ She directed her question at him ignoring Ben’s snickers.

‘Of the force? Not possible, it’s part of you and I will help you hone it in any way I can with the resources I have available.’ He waved a hand around the room. Her eyes brightened and she took in the room properly.

‘Wait... Ummm... Where are we?'

Ben was smirking. He looked like a Han, there never was any doubt that he was Han’s son. Ben backed up a little and shuffled his feet, his eyes strained on his fidgeting fingers.

'So funny story... The force binding thing...'

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

**Back on General Organa's Rebel Base**

It had been two days after he had woken from his coma and Poe had been reading him funny jokes about Hux’s hair when General Organa herself came in. Poe had stuffed the book away and stood giving her space.

‘How are you recovering?’ She asked warmly.

‘Good General. Thank you for everything.’ She nodded.

‘I’m sorry about your husband. He was a good man and was kind to Rey and me when no one else was.’ She smiled tightly.

‘Thank you. That is in part why I am here.’ He began to try and stand up when she raised a hand to still him. Poe offered her a glass of water which she refused.

‘Sit please. This will only take a moment of your time. I came to ask your permission.’ He looked up at Poe who shrugged his shoulders, his grip steady on the cup. He noticed that General Organa was watching the two of them carefully.

‘We would like to take a blood test to test for an anomaly in your blood.’

‘Sure’ - ‘What anomaly?’ He and Poe answered at the same time. She smiled and looked at them both.

‘We want to check your midichlorian count. We think it might be higher than normal. Finn looked at Poe for guidance but Poe was stunned to silence.

‘Sure. Thank you for coming, General Organa.’ She nodded and wished him well and departed. It took several minutes for Poe to regain his voice.

‘Finn, have you ever been able to do-’ Two lab technicians walked in and Poe went silent his grip on his cup of water tightened as they drew blood and fed it into a machine. The numbers started to echo on the machine and Poe dropped the cup spilling water everywhere. The technicians started to murmur to themselves. Every minute or so they peeked up at Finn like he was a fascinating marvel. Finn started to get nervous. He had the good graces to remain silent until they left with the promise of returning with General Organa.

‘What’s a midichlorian Poe?’ He asked after the door shut. Poe slumped into the chair despair clearly written on his face.

‘It’s how they know if someone is able to connect to the force.’ They both fell silent until dinner arrived with the rest of Poe's loud roommates. That night he was discharged and they all brought him to their room and gave him a bunk. Before turning in for the night Poe made him swear to keep it to himself until General Organa decided otherwise.

He had forgotten about until two days later when Poe was helping him with shooting practice. They were outside in the heat both sweating and running. Poe was shooting and Finn was supposed to be deflecting or at least avoiding the shots but he kept getting tazed. He had been laughing at something Poe had said when Poe's face froze and his hand tightened on his gun. He whipped around immediately to see General Organa with an armed guard standing by the doorway behind him. She insisted he come with her alone. That was when Poe spoke up. He refused to leave his side. General Organa kept whatever she felt well concealed. She simply nodded and motioned for them to follow. He grabbed his jacket and joined Poe. Side by side they entered the Council's chambers with General Organa. The look on Poe’s face said this was not good.

They explained to him that his midichlorian test came back positive. He continued to stare blankly around the room. No one seemed to want to explain what this meant. Poe stood next to him his jaw clenched shut. He put a hand on his arm and explained the force to him. He explained the light side of the force and what it meant and then he explained the dark side and what it meant. Everyone was quiet. They revealed that Master Skywalker was a Jedi, a follower of the lightside and he was training Rey on a quiet planet called Achto. Poe didn't look happy about that. Rey had almost gotten him killed so Poe generally wasn’t very fond of her. General Organa interrupted their conversation stating that he had a choice. He could stay and be a regular rebel like her, a force sensitive who did not use her powers or he could train with Luke and become a powerful Jedi. She repeated several times in her speech that if he really wanted to help the rebellion he should grow into his full potential as a Jedi. She gave him one day to decide and then they would reconvene. They were both dismissed.

When they left the chambers Poe looked tense. That night they argued for the first time. Poe didn't want him to go. He said there was massacre years before and every force sensitive was murdered, even the children. His heart wrenched as Poe described what details he had remembered. He had been on a trip with his parents and they had been called back to assist with Master Skywalker, since they were the closest they were the first ones there. He had been told to stay on the ship but being a little boy and a Dameron, he didn't listen. He could still remember the smell of burning flesh. It smelled the same as an animal. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he described the scene after he snuck off of the ship. His mother had cried for days. There was nothing they could do but cover the bodies of adults and children alike cut down before their time. Poe’s eyes didn’t leave his the whole time he spoke even as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

He didn't want him to go there. It was too dangerous. He argued back that the Rebellion was dangerous all around. They argued for hours. The breaking point finally came when he mentioned that he would have Rey to look after him when Poe wasn't there. At that comment Poe had stormed out of their shared room startling their two other roommates. One of them shook his head sadly at Finn and told him he was blind. He thanked him for his keen observation and reminded him he could see fine. He wasn't able to find Poe. The next morning he sent word to General Organa that he would go to Master Luke, it had never really been an option anyway. The call of the lightsaber had haunted him at night the blue lights dancing behind his eyes burning his hand he held it with.

Poe was avoiding him during lunch which was fortunate because he couldn’t bring himself to tell him in middle of the mess hall. After lunch he went back to his quarters and gathered what few items he had. Most were gifts or things his roommates had given him. He didn’t have much. He was stuffing his last item into his backpack when he felt someone watching him. He turned to see Poe. He stood in the doorway his hair a mess and his eyes darkened with a lack of sleep. His usually clean clothes was rumpled and disheveled.

'Poe' He whispered outstretching his arm.

'Don't you Poe me!' He snapped back. Poe was beside himself in panic.

'It is going to be okay. I can help the rebellion better this way.' He said softly. Poe stepped into the room the door sliding shut behind him. He began to pace. He never ever paced. Poe was always calm and cool and collective. It was starting to scare Finn.

'It's too dangerous. I want you to tell them you changed your mind.'

'Why? Give me one good reason.'

'Okay. Here's one; the last time you were with that dangerous Jedi girl _you_ almost died. Died Finn. I was there when they unloaded you from the Falcon. Your whole body was mangled and slashed. You were drowning in your own blood.’ His voice cracked. ‘I didn't think you would make it, no one did. It was all my fault. I got you into this. I-' He ran his hands through his hair yanking it violently as he pulled, as if all of his problems would go away if he suddenly had no hair.

'Finn. I don’t think I can go through that again. I spent weeks just sitting and waiting for you to wake up. I couldn't eat or sleep. I was immobile. General Organa had to tell everyone I was on a private mission. I wasn’t fighting for the rebellion. I was sitting in a chair terrified every waking second of every day until you woke up.'

'Poe. I didn't... I'm sorry... I can't ask you to go through that again.' His voice broke. He knew they were close but he didn't realize that Poe felt the same way he did.

'So, what do you expect me to do?' 

They were both silent for several moments as they took everything in. What did this mean? What was he supposed to do.

'I won't ask you to stop flying the same way you can't ask me not to fight. Not to give the Rebellion my all.' Finn whispered.

'I got you into this. I would do anything to reverse it Finn. I would.'

They were silent as they both drowned in despair. This was his most important relationship in his life. He didn't know if he could handle loosing Poe.

'You're wrong, you know. I would.' Whispered Finn.

'I would what?'

'I would give this all up for you Finn.' Finn felt his breath freeze in his throat and his world stop. What was he saying? Was Poe... Oh, galaxies, what should he do? He felt himself panic.

'Poe... I...' He was spluttering, all the humor in Poe's face gone. It was tight and serious. His body was taught with the stress of the situation.

'How long?' Finn breathed. He wasn’t sure what to think or how to feel.

'Since we've met. Since I gave you my-' Poe was standing as far as he could from him without leaving the room.

'Jacket?'

'Yes. Finn, I get it if you don't feel the same way but,' His voice cracked and Finn jumped up and grabbed him by the hugging him fiercely. When he let go they were both red faced. Finn could feel something changing. He wasn’t sure what it was but suddenly his skin began to feel hyper sensitive. Almost as if it was super charged.

‘Finn I-’ He stopped abruptly and ran his hands through his hair. He collapsed on the Finn’s bunk his head in his hands. Finn sat down next to him leaving a little space between them.

'Poe.' He said gently. 'In a lot of ways I'm still a child. I don't know what I feel most of the time. The processing… what they did to us...' Poe looked up his eyes dancing angrily. His hands were by his sides gripping the sheets tightly.

'Finn. I just need to know. Do you feel _anything_ … for me?' His voice was tight and his shoulders were hunched over his body. He looked so unlike Poe it was disarming.

'I do. Every waking minute I feel like you and I breathe the same breath. Like we are meant to be together forever, like we are one. Not like brothers or friends. Something else. I feel-' Poe’s lips crashed down onto his causing his mind to sputter. His nerves felt like live wire and his mind shut down completely when Poe's hands went around his back. He held tightly to him as if he was the last bit of oxygen on a starving ship. When they came up for air they heard cheering from behind them. Damn roommates. Poe threw pillows at them as most of them scampered out of the room hollering that they would be back in several hours.

'We have shit timing Finn, but I just needed to know before you left.'

'Why? I can come back and see you and...' His voice died at the look on Poe's face and the sudden silence in the room.

'Jedi cannot have relationships. It makes them unstable. They say it's one of the reasons that Master Skywalker divorced and that General Organa doesn't use the force. She is unsteady with it because of her family and her relationships in them. Finn, god. I don't know if we should have started this. Finn I'm so sorry. It won't be easy or-'

Finn kissed him to shut him up. Partially because he wanted to and partially because it was a good way to shut him up.

'We'll work it out. We will. I won't lose you.' His roommates cheered again, this time Poe threw the nightstand. He buried his head in his shoulder. This was going to be a long journey for the two of them.

That night they slept very little; their bodies cuddled together on the same bed their hands interlaced between each other. In the morning Poe ran out and he put in for flight transfer duty and because he was Poe Dameron he got it. They were packed up and ready to go in an hour. He said goodbye to all of their friends while Poe stood silently by his side. His heart broke for Poe. It would be hard on both of them to be apart but he was sure they could do it. He had seen them get through worse. Their departure was to be during lunch so as not to start a big fanfare in the hangar bay. Realizing they had an a couple of hours to kill the two went into a tech lab next to the hangar they were leaving from.

Poe knew his way around so Finn just sat on a stool and tried not to break anything or get yelled at. It was his motto in life. Poe was holding something and whispering to a dark haired man. The two kept looking up and down from what he was holding to Finn and then back at each other. Whatever they were talking about was so quiet that even he could not hear. The two walked briskly towards a door in the back and Finn stood to join them. Poe held a hand up and pointed to his eyes making a sweeping motion. Ahh, he had learned this one. Stay here and keep watch. He folded his arms and sat back down as they disappeared into a storage room. Finn waited for what seemed like an eternity. He was pretty sure he broke at least four things and set off an extremely irate droid. He couldn't even tell what model it was when it asked. He simply shrugged and pretended he didn't speak basic. He was in middle of drowning in his ineptness when he heard them heading back towards the door. He rose with anticipation. He really hoped the Force wasn't anything like this tech, if so he was probably going to have to use the whole 'I no speak Basic routine' on Master Skywalker. Poe emerged from the door thanked the man and the two left towards the lifts for the hangar bay. A droid, an R2 unit he thought, had offered to take his things down to the hangar but he owned so little that he had worn the backpack all day. The lift doors closed in front of them and they were alone. Poe turned to him his smile split across his face. He grabbed him by his jacket's lapels and kissed him, quick and hard.

'I got it.' 

'Got what?'

'A way for us to stay in touch even if they try and forbid us.' His eyes were twinkling mischievously. 

'How?' Poe opened his hands and placed a round sphere in his hand. It was possibly the oldest commlink he had ever seen. He doubted his great great grandparents used commlinks like these. 

'We are going to run away and open an antique store?' Poe laughed.

'No. These are old comms.'

'I can tell.' He muttered as Poe swatted him.

'They don't have holonet access so they can't be hacked and they run on their own frequency so....' He wiggled his eyebrows, smiling even more than Finn thought humanely possible.

'Only we can hear each other on them.' He breathed. 'Poe your a genius.' 

'I know.' He shrugged.

'These are probably a little over a hundred years old. They literally are antiques.'

'Do they work?'

'Yeah we tested them out across distance.'

'When did you have a chance to distance test them?' Poe winked at him.

'Really? I could have come with you! Also, you swore you wouldn't fly that fast again!' Poe laughed and secured his old comm to his belt next to his regular one that was flashing madly. 

'It wasn't that fast, just moderately fast.' Finn threw his hands up in desperation as Poe picked up his regular comm listening to a report his face falling with each second. Finn clipped his comms next to each other. Feeling less miserable than he had originally. The doors opened and they stepped out of the lift. The two of them headed towards the hangar as Poe continued to listen to his comm. Whatever it was it was serious. Finn smiled encouragingly at him as they approached their ship his face concentrating on the comm.

 

The Hangar Bay was quiet during lunch. Any remaining personnel was either finishing up a last minute report or running security sweeps. Poe had already hurried into the ship shouting something about an important Holo transmission. Finn looked around the bay one last time and walked up to the ship docked in the corner. It was small and dark and of Corellian design. Corellian. His family. He sighed and walked up the ramp his eyes wide and heart full.

The last several days had been an eye opener. He still had trouble accepting that he was just little more than a number in a battalion of brainwashed white helmets. He was constantly living in fear that he would wake up and this would all have been a dream. A side effect of reconditioning, but even he knew he couldn’t have dreamt up Poe. He dropped his bag with his few possessions, most gift from his roommates and waved at Poe. Poe was speaking to someone on the Holo Screen his eyebrows creased with concentration. He motioned to the canisters at the bottom of the ramp and pointed to the storage unit on his side. Finn smiled and gave him thumbs up. Poe’s face lit up as they made eye contact.

‘Pilot Dameron, are you listening?’ An shrill voice broke their reverie.

‘Yes, Madam Senator. I will of course fly the ship however a matter of personal-’

‘We’re at war young man! Personal matters are to be shelved!’ Finn walked up beside him so he was in the Holo feed. A tall purple woman in regal purple and yellow robes stood looking thoroughly agitated.

‘Who is this?’ The woman snapped. Poe rubbed his temples looking thoroughly exasperated.

‘My name is Finn, Ma’am.’

‘I am Sakalo Chuchi. I am the Senator of Pantora. Pilot Dameron was supposed to be flying me with a secret envoy to General Organa this morning. He was just about to explain his reason for abandoning me in a space station on the lower levels of Pantora.’

‘I am afraid that would be my doing Senator. You have my sincerest apologies.’ The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them. Poe dropped his face into his hands.

‘Really? You think you are more important than all of Pantora’s safety and our continued alliance with the Rebel Alliance?’

‘No of course not Ma’am. Pilot Dameron was simply delaying your pickup for a multitude of reasons. Aside from the chatter of a security threat that General Organa had picked up, he was also asked to attend to a matter of great importance to the Rebel Alliance.’ He _had_ heard General Organa mention that the pick up might have been compromised. Also they _were_ important to each other...

‘And what planet is more important than Pantora? I was under the impression that all planets were of equal importance or does General Organa hide behind false promises and pithy phrases.’

‘It is not a planet more than and Organization and with all do respect ma’am nothing about General Organa shouts ‘Pithy.’ He was surprised when she collapsed in her chair and began to laugh. When they subsided she looked up and down a Finn noting his lack of uniform. Poe had his jaw hanging open in shock. Apparently she was the raving purple bitch lady that he complained about so often.

‘Alright Mr. Finn. You have stayed my temper. I do have to know what…’ She paused waving an arm thoughtfully, ‘organization as you say was so important that I was stuck getting a ride on the back of a speeder from a smuggler.’ Her eyebrows were raised and Finn sighed. She was persistent and didn’t seem like the type of woman who took no for an answer, like Rey.

‘The Jedi, Ma’am.’ She sat up straight immediately her eyes bright and curious.

‘Is it true, they found another one? Another Padawan learner? Would I be able to glimpse him, Mr. Finn? Just for a moment? I have never seen a Jedi. My mother was friends with several during the clone wars but they perished even the ones she tried to save.’ She spoke so quickly Finn almost missed it. His smile returned as did Poe’s.

‘You’re talking to him Senator.’ Smirked Poe. The Senator gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth. Her eyes poured over Finn as she examined him. Finn suddenly felt uncomfortable under her watchful eyes. He was not used to such scrutiny. He shifted uncomfortably for what felt like hours.

‘I apologise Madam Senator but Jedi Master Skywalker is expecting us and I it is imperative I keep to the Jedi Master's time schedule.’ Poe stated as diplomatically as he could possibly speak without sounding rude. She stood abruptly.

‘Of course, my apologies Master Finn-’

‘Just Finn, please Ma’am.’

‘Please call me Sakalo.’ Finn bowed his head. Poe turned to end the transmission, as he did the Senator called out to him her eyes twinkling.

‘Finn. May the force be with you.’

‘And you Sakalo.’ The transmission ended.

Poe pinched his arm causing him to yelp.

‘Thanks Master Finn.’ Finn rolled his eyes at his sarcastic tone.

‘No seriously. We were starting to lose Pantora. If we lost Pantora we would have lost that entire sector. Thank you Finn.’ His voice had grown serious and his eyes soft. He still wasn’t sure how he had doubted that there was something between them. They stared at each other until a beeping noise announced another Holo Call. Poe looked over and straightened his flight suit immediately.

‘Shit. It’s the General. Can you load the cargo?’

‘Sure. Go be charming she won’t stay mad for long.’ Poe smiled dazzlingly.

‘Thank you, Finn.’ He whispered. He turned his back quickly and opened the Holo window. Finn strolled down the ramp, Politics were not for Finn. It was too… he couldn’t find the right word. Sneaky, maybe? He wasn’t like Poe who could sell you Bantha dung and make you pay top dollar for it. He had an arsenal of sweet words and enticing phrases. He never stammered or second guessed himself. He was as sure of himself as the currents in hyperspace.

Finn leaned down and grabbed a cannister and hauled it onto the ship. It wasn’t hard work but there were a lot of canisters. As he trekked up and down the ramp he thought back to that morning. He had learned earlier that morning over tea with General Organa that he had a father who had spent years looking for him before being told of his death by an Imperial Informant. It was a lie that General Organa said was designed to break his father and it did. He still searched but he was not the same man he was before. He lost his only child. She told him of his mother. She was a flight deck officer on the ship that his father had overseen during the months after the fall of the Empire. She had died soon after he had been taken. Despite of the tragedy that had befallen his family he felt loved and wanted ever since he joined General Organa’s troops.

It was more than a familial ghosting love. Poe never left his side not since he had woken up from the battle on Starkiller base. No one bothered him about being a 'stormtrooper drop out' anymore. He couldn't remember the last time they were apart. It was, in essence why this trip scared him so much. Poe had offered to fly them both, along with supplies for Master Skywalker and Rey. He still wasn’t sure if it was the right choice. It might have been easier to say goodbye in the hangar than on Master Skywalker's planet.

Poe was his safety net, a part of him. He got him out of hell and stuck by him the whole time. He even let him keep his cool jacket. Which he was told was a big deal because it was his first flight uniform and a family heirloom. When he asked him about it he shrugged and said he needed it more than him. He snapped back to the present as Poe called for take off and reminded him to attach his safety harness. He nodded silently and strapped in.

.

.

. 

‘Hey, sleepy head. Twenty minutes to landing.’ Finn sat up abruptly he couldn't believe he slept through most of their trip.  About two hours later they landed on the island. It didn't look like much but it wasn't the planet that was special it was the people on it. He could feel Rey. As if he could see her but not with his eyes. Poe shut down the ship and stood up. He offered Finn a hand.

'Together?'

 


End file.
